Each passing day, more and more consumers utilize the internet to purchase goods. This has resulted in an ever growing use of fulfillment centers, distribution centers, warehouses and materials handling facilities (collectively, “materials handling facilities”) as the places where the goods are received, stored, prepared for shipment, and even potentially shipped (shipment may, for example, occur at a separate facility). When a consumer orders a specific item, the ordered number of units of that item are identified at one or more specific locations within the materials handling facility, transferred to another location within the facility for packaging in a shipment container (such as a cardboard box), and prepared for shipment to the consumer.
Conventional materials handling facilities typically utilize a series of conveyor belts which deliver generic totes or receptacles from one specific location to another within the material handling facility. These conveyor belts are usually operated in an “always on” mode, in which they are constantly moving, even if no receptacles are being moved. Keeping these conveyors constantly moving can require a significant allocation of energy, as the conveyor belts themselves are often very heavy. In addition, such systems are inherently very noisy due to the constant movement of the conveyors, and all of the moving parts can require frequent maintenance and generate large amounts of dust and dirt, which can reduce the reliability of such systems.